New Resource for Psychiatric Advance Directives

Introduced in the 1990s, psychiatric advance directives, commonly called PADs, offer a way for people with mental illnesses to plan ahead for a mental health crisis. PADs are legal documents that typically specify treatment instructions and appoint a designated health care agent, among other actions.
A newly launched online national resource center is now providing comprehensive information on psychiatric advance directives.

The National Resource Center for Psychiatric Advance Directives (NRC-PAD), developed by psychiatric and legal experts at Duke University Medical Center and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, went online in January. Its web address is http://www.nrc-pad.org. The developers hope that the website will serve as an online gathering place for people with mental illness and their families, as well as for clinicians, to learn about PADs and how to complete the documents.